Pageant Time
by Nerdywife91
Summary: Sherlock and John need a woman for a pageant. This was inspired by this post on tumblr:


"No." John crossed his arms.

"And why not?" Irene purred as she wound a strand of Sherlock's hair around her finger. He gave her a sideways look but said nothing.

"Because I don't trust you." John sat down in his chair. Sherlock pushed himself away from the wall where he had been leaning and sunk down into his chair facing John.

"Understandable." She shrugged her shoulders, knowing the extent of John's dislike of her.

"Fine, we'll do it without a woman." Sherlock moved his hand to his lap as Irene moved near his chair letting her arm hang by her side.

"Sherlock, we _need_ a woman. It is a -"

"I'm a woman; I think I could help you out." Mary waddled her way into Sherlock's flat. "Oh, Irene. Hello." She said coolly, taking a seat on the couch, swinging her legs up too, stretching them out in front of her.

"No." Sherlock folded his long fingers in his lap. "To big."

"What?" Mary asked, hurt, rubbing her hands on her swollen belly.

"What I think Sherlock is trying to say," John gave him a pointed look. "Is that you're pregnant."

"What exactly do you need a woman for?" She folded her arms across her chest as best as possible.

"I have heard rumors about possible murder attempts and other on goings at the pageant." Irene sat on the arm of Sherlock's chair. "They need a woman who can get to the end stages of the pageant."

"Molly." Mary shrugged her shoulders.

"Who?" Irene reached over and started messing with Sherlock's hair.

"Hooper. Molly Hooper." At Mary's words Sherlock jumped up and started pacing the room.

"No. No. No." He shook his head back and forth several times.

"Well why not?" John was beginning to get exasperated with him.

"Because Molly Hooper would never agree to participate in a pageant!" He continued to pace.

"If you asked, she would." John sat forward, placing his elbows on his knees.

"The pathologist?" Irene smirked.

"Yes, yes." Sherlock mumbled.

"I get it." Irene slid into Sherlock's chair and steepled her hands as she had watched him do so many times before.

"What?" Sherlock stopped pacing and stared blankly at her.

"You don't want Molly Hooper, your dear pathologist, to be paraded around in front of a bunch of men."

"Knew it!" Mary and John shouted together.

"Molly Hooper is a valuable resource." Sherlock started pacing again.

"We could use some new resources." John chuckled.

"No." Sherlock sat down at his desk and picked up his phone, hoping to find a new case and leave this one behind.

"Oh my dear Sherlock, when did you become so sentimental?" Irene got up and placed her chin on his shoulder. Mary and John continued to chat about in the background. "I thought you found human attachment a weakness."

"It is." He said between clenched teeth.

"Yet here we are. You so determined to not have your Molly in the pageant." She trailed her finger up and down Sherlock's arm.

"Like I said, she is a useful-"

"Yes, a useful resource. Must be a rather attractive resource as well."

"FINE!" Sherlock shouted as he stood up, causing Irene to stumble backwards. "Molly Hooper it is!" John and Mary smirked at each other, enjoying the new shade of red forming on Sherlock's face.

"Oh, Mary! Look at you!" Molly striped off her gloves.

"It's rather hard not to." Mary patted her bump. "Still two months."

"This is Molly Hooper?" Irene asked, surprised.

"Yes...sorry, who are you?" Molly slid her goggles up on her head. Irene took a moment to look Molly up and down, with a smirk.

"Irene Adler." She reached out her hand to Molly. Molly took her hand, hesitantly and shook once.

"So, what can I do for you?" Molly looked at the four of them, so confused.

"Sherlock and I need your help on a case."

"They haven't brought me any new bodies yet."

"No, there's no body."

"Yet." Sherlock stood apart from the rest of the group, at the back of the morgue, with his back to them.

"Okaaaaay?" Molly yanked the goggles off her head.

"We need you for a pageant." Irene addressed Molly, but looked at Sherlock.

"You want me to enter a pageant?" Molly looked at Sherlock too. "I've never been in a pageant before."

"See, she can't do it." Sherlock threw his hands in the air.

"She didn't say she couldn't." John turned towards Sherlock too.

"She can't do it!" Sherlock yelled again, finally turning toward the group. Molly set her jaw, and folded her arms tightly around herself.

"I'll do it."

"Great!" John smiled, turning back to Molly.

"But - "

"I can help you with your clothes, no offense, but that jumper is not going to get you to the final round." Irene eyed Molly.

"But - "

"And on the way here Irene filled us in on some of the details of the case, I want to teach you how to use a gun...strictly for protection." Mary raised her eyebrows slightly.

"But - "

"Okay." Molly stared straight ahead at Sherlock, not really hearing what everyone else around her was saying.

"You are going to need to take some time off from the morgue." John motioned around the room.

"But - "

"But what Sherlock!?" Molly was getting irritated with him doubting her.

"But...nothing." He stormed out of the morgue.

"Are you sure this works?" Molly stared down at her dress. It clung tightly to her slender frame and revealed more of her cleavage than she had ever shown before.

"Yes!" Irene looked satisfied.

"Definitely." Mary said from her chair in the corner of the room.

"Can you see my gun?" Molly shifted uneasily, feeling the weight of it against her skin.

"No, perfect fit in every way." Mary nodded.

"Okay." Molly nodded too. She gave herself one last look in the mirror. "Let's go."

"What is taking them so long?" Sherlock sat on their couch, pulling at his hair.

"Girls, Sherlock, girls." John sat, flipping through the newspaper.

"What does that even mean?" Sherlock scrutinized John.

"It just means that girls - " John stopped as he heard the door to Sherlock's room open.

"Ready to go." Irene said as her and Mary emerged into the living room.

"Where is Molly?" John looked between the two women.

"Molly, get out here - you look great!" Mary shouted back to the bedroom.

"Fine, fine, I'm coming." She called. The click of high heels on the kitchen floor caused Sherlock to stop pulling at his hair. Molly appeared beside Mary. Her dark blue dress hugged her slight curves and ended just above her knee. She wore a necklace with a single diamond that rested between her breasts. Her long brown hair was loose around her shoulders, parted on the side. Sherlock could see two small diamond studs, glistening through her hair. The small amount of make-up that had been put on her face caused her eyes to seem even more striking than normal. All Sherlock could do was stare.

"Wow, Molly! You look great!" John smiled at the three women. "Despite you," He eyed Irene. "The three of you make a good team."

"Thanks." Irene grabbed her coat. "Well my part is done. Good luck." She leaned over and gave Molly a kiss on the cheek. Then turned to Sherlock and caught his eye for a moment, winking at him, and then disappeared from the flat.

"She is odd." Was all Molly could say, drawing Sherlock's attention back to her.

"Okay, before we go, I have to _go_!" Mary waddled back to the bathroom.

"I'm going to go get us a cab." John took off down the stairs.

Sherlock was still sitting on the couch staring at Molly. She finally met his eyes with hers, seeing the surprise. He coughed and looked down at his hands.

"Umm."

"Still think I can't do this?" Molly enjoyed the silent Sherlock.

"It wasn't that. I never thought. I just - you." He mumbled on, not making any sense.

"Sherlock have you been drinking this morning?" Molly stepped towards him.

"No!" he jumped up from the couch and grabbed his coat off the hook, next to the door. He picked up Molly's coat as well and held it open for her to slip on. She slid her arms in and turned to face Sherlock.

"Thank you." She reached her arm up to slide her hair out of the coat, but Sherlock was faster. His long fingers touched the back of her neck, causing her to shiver. He pulled her hair from the coat and let it fall against her back.

"I never thought you couldn't do it." He whispered, his hand still in her hair. Molly was taken back.

"But you said-"

"I didn't want you to do it." He dropped his hand to his side as Molly averted his gaze.

"Why?" Molly felt her cheeks heat and busied her hands with buttoning her coat. When he didn't answer, Molly raised her eyes to meet his gaze again. "Sherlock?"

"You're Molly Hooper." He leaned in to her and pressed his lips firmly against hers. Molly had to fight the urge to jerk back out of sheer shock. He reached his hand up and pulled Molly closer to him by her waist. She laid her hands on his chest. "I don't want you getting hurt." He whispered as he let her go.

"Oh." She breathed slowly. They heard the door to the bathroom open and stepped back from each other even more.

"The game, Miss Hooper, is on." He winked at her and jogged down the stairs.

"Ready?" Mary asked as Molly turned to her. Molly nodded her head yes. "Molly, how have you already smudged your gloss?" She pointed to below Molly's bottom lip.

"Oh, you know me!" She giggled quietly as she wiped away the smudge that Sherlock Holmes had caused.


End file.
